Index

Acknowledgment                                     xi
Preface                                            xiii
  Introduction                                     1   (50)
    Subject of the Book                            4   (2)
    Theoretical Approach                           6   (7)
    Types of Online Communication                  13  (4)
    Common Features of Digital Writing             17  (2)
    Some Forms of Playfulness                      19  (5)
    Why So Playful?                                24  (12)
    Overview of Five Case Studies                  36  (6)
    Writing about a Dynamic Medium in a Static     42  (9)
    One
  ``Feeling Spiffy:'' The Changing Language of     51  (49)
  Public Email
    A New Kind of Letter-writing                   52  (4)
    Anomalous Nature of the Medium                 56  (3)
    What Did Manuals for Email Style Recommend?    59  (4)
    Two Hypotheses about Public Email              63  (1)
    Presentation of Self in First Email Letters    64  (1)
    First Letters to a Professor                   65  (3)
    Academics Adrift                               68  (12)
    From Business Letter to Expressive             80  (5)
    Conversation
    Implications                                   85  (15)
  Typed ``Jazz:'' Writing, Play, and               100 (57)
  Performance on Internet Relay Chat
    ``Hmmm... Where's That Smoke Coming From?''    101 (6)
    Typed Simulation of Smoking Marihuana
    Shakespeare ``Live'' Online: the Hamnet        107 (10)
    Players
    Hamnet Productions and the Problem of Genre    117 (1)
    Hamnet Scripts: a Closer Look                  118 (9)
    Logistics of Hamnet Productions                127 (2)
    Hamnet Performances: Some Highlights           129 (12)
    Discussion                                     141 (16)
  ``Don't Just Send a Card, Send a Cyber           157 (37)
  Greeting!'' Digital Greetings on the World
  Wide Web
    Traditional Postcards and Greeting Cards       159 (2)
    A Capsule History of Postcards and Greeting    161 (6)
    Cards
    The Communicative Functions of Postcards       167 (2)
    and Greeting Cards
    The Greeting Card Industry                     169 (2)
    Digital Greetings                              171 (1)
    Digital Greetings and Life's Troubles          171 (5)
    Multimedia Packaging                           176 (4)
    Why Were Greetings Websites So Playful?        180 (3)
    A Look to the Future                           183 (11)
  ASCII Art and its Antecedents                    194 (47)
    Technical Aspects                              195 (2)
    Antecedents of ASCII Art                       197 (6)
    From Teletype Art to ASCII Art                 203 (5)
    The 1990s: BBSs, Usenet Newsgroups, and the    208 (2)
    World Wide Web
    Styles and Genres of ASCII Art                 210 (17)
    Two Contemporary ASCII Artists                 227 (4)
    Beyond ASCII Art                               231 (4)
    ASCII Art in Perspective                       235 (6)
  ``Welcome to Our Beautiful World of Colors!''    241 (48)
  Art and Communication on Internet Relay Chat
    What is New in IRC Art?                        242 (2)
    Overview of the Case Study                     244 (9)
    New Features: Color, Eccentric Typography,     253 (4)
    Abstract Pattern
    Striving for Closure: Visual Form              257 (12)
    Striving for Closure: the Content of Images    269 (4)
    Discussion                                     273 (16)
  ``There's More to Life than Times New            289 (56)
  Roman!'' Font Frenzy
    A Capsule History of Typography                293 (7)
    A Smorgasbord of Fonts                         300 (6)
    ``Let's Smash the Crystal Goblet:'' an         306 (7)
    Expressive Approach to Fonts
    Collecting and Displaying Fonts                313 (5)
    Font Themes                                    318 (11)
    Personal Handwriting Fonts: a Closer Look      329 (2)
    Discussion                                     331 (14)
  Concluding Reflections                           345 (27)
    Normalization                                  345 (3)
    IRC Art as Incipient Folk Art and as Craft     348 (7)
    Intellectual Property Issues                   355 (7)
    Bi-stability of Text and Image                 362 (1)
    Playfulness Revisited                          362 (3)
    A Grand ``Grand Piano'' on the Desktop         365 (7)
Bibliography                                       372 (30)
Subject Index                                      402 (7)
Names Index                                        409